Cut-and-run Democrats

New congressional leadership disinclined to beat on Bush

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For the past week, Democrats have been beating their
chests, declaring that their reclamation of Congress, as well as the
majority of governorships around the nation, is proof that Americans are
fed up with the Iraq war and scandal after Republican scandal. But apparently the Democrats aren’t
interpreting the results of the midterm election as a signal that Americans
want change in the White House or at least to make President George W. Bush
and other administration officials answer some tough questions. There’s a reason the president is unpopular.
Bush’s 38 percent job-approval rating reflects his inability to keep
members his own party — much less some of the most unstable regions
on Earth — disciplined. Things have gotten so bad that Bush gave
close family friend and advisor Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld the
boot the day after the election.Now that they’ve got the administration right
where they want it, some of Bush’s staunchest foes have decided not
to deliver the coup de grâce. Impeachment, they say, is no longer an option. “No, that’s not on the agenda — it
is not on the
agenda. If we make punishment and political retribution a hallmark,
we’re not going to get reelected,” U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, a
fierce Bush critic and the next majority whip, tells Illinois Times. Indeed, Democrats’ very narrow margin of
victory this year could be taken to mean that even though Americans want
change, they’re not willing to give Democrats that much slack.The new majority party’s rationale seems to be
that although the midterm elections served as a referendum on the president
and Iraq, its mandate is “Govern from the center.”On Friday, Bush met in the Oval Office with Durbin
and the next Senate majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada. During the
meeting, Illinois’ senior senator says, he, Reid, and the president
discussed issues faced by the lame-duck and new Congress, including Iraq. “I think the president got the message,”
Durbin says. “He knows he can’t move forward any significant
legislation without the Democratic Congress working with him. We know we
can’t pass an important bill without his signature — so
we’re in this together.”Speaking in general, Durbin points out that his party
has the majority in the Senate by two votes, which means the Democrats will
lead and chair the various committees. Senate rules are written so that
controversial legislation, such as articles of impeachment, needs 60 votes
to pass. When the impeachment of former President Bill Clinton
began in 1998, Durbin said that although he would vote for acquittal, he
did support a strong censure resolution. “What has occurred here is a personal and
family tragedy,” Durbin told colleagues in closed deliberations on
Feb. 12, 1999. “It is not a national tragedy which should result in
the removal of this president from office.”Perhaps Durbin and his fellow Democrats have
forgotten that, undoubtedly hurt by the Clinton scandal, the Democrats lost
the White House in 2000 to Bush, who — to paraphrase former
presidential nominee John Kerry, and make a long story short — got us
stuck in Iraq. Now more than 2,850 American soldiers have been
killed, Iraq has plunged into civil war, and the National Intelligence
Estimate reports that the internationally unpopular war has made our nation
less safe. Talk about a national tragedy. But the Democrats say they’re ready to move
past that. Last week, U.S. Rep. John Conyers, the Michigan Democrat poised
to take over the chairmanship of the House Judiciary Committee, which would
initiate an impeachment trial in that chamber, said that he and future
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, of California, agree that impeachment should be
taken off the table. In response to a resolution proposed in March by U.S.
Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., to censure the president, Durbin indicated that
although he didn’t think censure talk was a “valuable
discussion” at the time, he couldn’t rule anything, including
impeachment, out. It’s now ruled out, Durbin says: “The American people want the president and his
agencies to be held accountable — what’s happened in Iraq with
Halliburton and the rest of them is inexcusable — but, you know, we
watched this political circus involving President Clinton and the
impeachment trial. Americans should never have had to face that then, and
our feeling now is ‘Let’s get down to business —
let’s do the things that are important for this country.’
”Referring to U.S. troops, Durbin says,
“they’re our best and bravest, and they’re dying every
day; we need to do something to make sure that they can come
home.”Well, there is something we could do. The Democrats just aren’t willing to do
it. Contact R.L. Nave at rnave@illinoistimes.com